I found this article interesting. Some things are not viable for us (buying a 200 lb side of beef, etc) but there are other things that I will definitely try (spending $30 to buy all the meat for the month and buying more natural products to clean with). It's worth a read-through at least. The website that she's referring to in the article is Budget101.com - complete resource for digging yourself out of debt

Hey there, just reading in the back pages of this forum and I know there are a lot of "newbies" like myself, so I thought I'd post so it comes up again....
I really enjoyed this article. I found it very informative and helpful.
I've read the "hillbilly housewife" website and did not find it helpful, there were not enough fruits and veggies. I like more of a healthful balance in my meals.
This article presented a balanced meal menu and good suggestions for interesting spice mixes at the end. I like the "international" feel on a budget.
I also was not intimidated by the steps toward making more foods from scratch and buying meats in bulk each month instead of having it be a weekly purchase.
Happy cooking